Synonyms for slang
Most common
Definitions
- n. 1
Language outside of conventional usage and in the informal register.
Related words
- Word family
- slanger slangular slangy
- Phrases
- centre slang medial slang
- Other spellings
- slanket
Forms
- Plural
- slangs → argots, jargons, lingos, vernaculars…
Choose the right word
In the evolution of language many words originally slang are adopted by good writers and speakers, and ultimately take their place as accepted English.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- jargon All this technical jargon is gibberish to me.
- vernacular I write Berber in its Kabyle vernacular form.
- lingo I'd love to work in Germany, but I don't speak the lingo.
- argot An argot strengthens the identity of a social group.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| slang | rising | |
| jargon | steady | |
| vernacular | rising | |
| lingo | rising | |
| argot | steady | |
| colloquialism | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- cant1
- 5 letters
- lingo2, argot2
- 6 letters
- jargon2, patois2
- 9 letters
- barbarism4, vulgarism
- 10 letters
- vernacular4
- 13 letters
- colloquialism
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (lingo2 = 2 syllables).